The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for improving the utility of working with documents and more particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method that facilitates adding audio annotation to documents or other objects.
The use of computers and computer networks in various fields, such as business, academics, and entertainment has facilitated the exchange of information electronically. Nevertheless, persons rely to a great extent on paper copies of documents. In fact, the widespread use of computers and computer networks may have the result that even more physical paper copies of documents are produced because documents are easier to generate using computers. Moreover, it is recognized that paper copies of documents are better-suited and easier to use than electronic versions of the same documents for presenting many kinds of exchanges of information. Therefore, it is expected that the use of physical paper documents will continue to increase in the future.
When reviewing or revising paper copies of documents, one frequently desires to make comments or notes about one""s observations about what is presented in the document. These comments or notes may be for the benefit of the reviewer. For example, one might want to remind oneself at a later time about an observation or thought that occurred at the time the document was previously reviewed. Alternatively, the comments may be for the benefit of another person who will review the document at a later time. Various means are available that enable persons to perform these kinds of tasks. For example, a person may simply write a few comments directly on the document. Another popular way to make comments about a document is to use Post-It(copyright)-style notes. These methods work well and serve many of the needs that persons have for making notes or comments about paper documents.
Although these methods work well for many applications, there is room for improvement. For example, writing notes by hand is time-consuming. Furthermore, writing directly on a document is limited by the amount of space on the document. Similar constraints are associated with using Post-It(copyright)-style notes. Accordingly, there exists a need for an apparatus and method that facilitates note-taking in connection with documents or other physical objects. Furthermore, there exists a need to enhance the exchange of information using a paper document medium.
To address these and other objectives, the present invention comprises an apparatus and method for annotating an object, such as a document, with an audio event. The apparatus comprises a recording component that makes a recording of an audio event, a data code applicator that places a data code on the object after the recording of the audio event is made by the recording component, a data code reader that reads the data code from the document, and a playback component that plays back the recording of the audio event after the data code is read from the document by the data code reader.